Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Summary Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is an adventure fighting game which is a pusedo re-telling of Mortal Kombat 2 in the perspective of Liu Kang and Kung Lao Story As Earthrealm's warriors won against Outworld's warriors in the Mortal Kombat Tournament, Liu Kang and Kung Lao's temple known as the Wi-Shi Acadamy was attacked by Tarkatan forces, and in the midst of all this, Sonya has been kidnapped. After Liu Kang and Kung Lao save the Wu Shi Acadamy, they are assigned on a quest to go to Outworld and save Sonya and to stop Shang Tsung. What they will soon realize is that nothing as it seems. Game Modes Single Player Play by yourself in this mode, choose either between Liu Kang or Kung Lao to play in the game. Two player Co-Op Play with a friend as you share the same health meter in this mode. Options Change some aspects of the game in this mode. Johnny's Reviews General Thoughts Ever since I have seen this on Youtube I really wanted to play this game. For years I have waited for an opportunity to play this for myself. Graphics The graphics in this game are what you expect from a Playstation 2 game. In comparison to graphics of modern games it is quite obvious to see how blocky it is and not "spectacularly" detailed they are. But this shouldn't be much of a problem. Grade: 'B Music The music is what you expect from a Mortal Kombat game. It has a mixture of ancient Chinese and even some classic music as well. But all-n-all, it fits the Mortal Kombat environment very well. '''Grade: '''C+ Sound/Voice Some of the sounds in this game are burrowed from previous Mortal Kombat games with only a few new and unique sounds added in, though the measure isn't really as good. The voices are also a bit hit and miss. Liu Kang and Kung Lao's voices are of the Anglo-American variety and not the proper Chinese dialect like in the modern MK games. Raiden's voice also doesn't match that of a god either. The sounds overall could've been done better. '''Grade: '''D+ Gemaplay/Controls The gameplay is very similar to that of a Hack N' Slash game the likes of ''Dynasty Warriors ''and ''Samurai Warriors. Both Liu Kang and Kung Lao have quick and strong attacks, of course they also have their own special moves, the monks can also throw enemies not just off of cliffs but also into environments to eliminate enemies instantly, they can also use a launching attack to either launch them into a deadly environment or perform an air combo. Both of the Monks also gain experience points, though it's not used like in a turn based RPG like Final Fantasy, you use it as like currency to unlock other special moves, advanced speical moves and even combos. Like in Adventure games such as The Legend of Zelda you'll have to solve puzzles, or eliminate all enemies in order to advance to another area. Liu Kang and Kung Lao can also use weapons on an occasion which can help them eliminate enemies or even solve a certain puzzle. As always with Mortal Kombat, there are Fatalities and both Liu kang have their own list of them. There is also something called "Mulitalities" which can elminate multiple enemies at one time, and Brutalities but they're different in this game, instead your player will be invincible and go on a hitting rage. The controls are quite easy to pick up. Though the quick attack and strong attack are on opposite sides of the button alignment (the quick attack button is the square button and the strong attack is the circle button). But this shoudln't be much of a problem. '''Grade: '''A- Replay Value There is quite a few things to unlock in this game, there is places where you can unlock concept art for the game, there are even "Smoke Missions" where the character Smoke gives you a specific objective to complete, if you manage to complete all of the Smoke Missions you can play the game's version of Mortal Kombat 2, it's not like the arcade game, but still pretty good. After completing the game a few times and with both monks, you can play as either Scorpion and Sub-Zero who have their own special moves, fatalities, multalities and brutalities. So, a lot to look forward to when unlocking things in this game. '''Grade: '''A Final Thoughts This game does look and sound dated by today's standards. But with the major flops Midway made in the forms of Mythologies and Special Forces, 3 times was a charm for them when they made this game. The gameplay is great and there are quite a bit to unlock. The thing about this game I truely like is that Outworld is very vast and gave us a window on what Outworld really looks like. The stages are huge and there are a lot of areas to explore and the original game's Kombat Zones are also in these areas as well. The Kombatants that made their debut in MK2 like Kitana, Mileena, Jade, Reptile, and of course Kahn himself also act as bosses. So, this game can not be ignored, it is quite good. '''Overall Grade: B+